AI Governance Research Project Fellowship £11,000 Stipend and Visa Sponsorship

About the Team

GovAI was founded to help humanity navigate the transition to a world with advanced AI. Our first research agenda, published in 2018, helped define and shape the nascent field of AI governance. Our team and affiliate community possess expertise in a wide variety of domains, including AI regulation, responsible development practices, compute governance, AI company corporate governance, US-China relations, and AI progress forecasting. GovAI researchers have closely advised decision makers in government, industry, and civil society. Our researchers have also published in top peer-reviewed journals and conferences, including International Organization, NeurIPS, and Science.

We are looking for early-career individuals or established professionals new to the field of AI governance to join our team for three months and learn about the field of AI governance while making connections with other researchers and practitioners. This opportunity will be a particularly good fit for individuals who are excited to use their careers to shape the lasting implications of AI.

About the Fellowship

Summer and Winter Fellows join GovAI to conduct independent research on a topic of their choice, with mentorship from leading experts in the field of AI governance. Each Fellow will be paired with a supervisor from the GovAI team or affiliate network. Fellows will also join a series of Q&A sessions with AI governance experts, research seminars, and work-in-progress meetings.

You can read about the topics our previous cohorts of Summer and Winter Fellows worked on here and here.

Our alumni have gone on to roles in government, in the US, EU, and UK; top AI companies, including DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic; top think tanks, including the Center for Security and Emerging Technology and RAND; and top universities, including the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

Fellowship Experience

As a Fellow, you will spend the first week or two of the fellowship exploring research topic options before settling on a research proposal with input from your supervisors. Valerie Belu, one of GovAI’s Research Managers, will support you in deciding what project and output will be most valuable for you to work towards, for example, publishing a report, journal article, or blog post.

You will also take time to explore the wider AI governance space and discuss follow-on career opportunities in the field of AI governance with our team.

Qualifications and Selection Criteria

We strongly encourage you to apply if you have an interest in our work and are considering using your career to study or shape the lasting implications of AI.

Given the multidisciplinary nature of our work, we are interested in candidates from a broad set of disciplines including political science, public policy, computer science, economics, history, sociology, philosophy, and law. We are particularly interested in hosting more researchers with strong technical backgrounds. There are no specific educational requirements for the role, although we expect that the most promising candidates will typically have relevant graduate study, research experience, or professional experience in related areas.

When assessing applications, we will be looking for candidates who have the following strengths or show positive signs of being able to develop them:

Quality of work: The ability to produce clearly written, insightful, and even-handed research. We are particularly excited about strong reasoning ability and clear and concise writing.

Relevant expertise: Skills or knowledge that are likely to be helpful for work on AI governance. We think that relevant expertise can take many different forms. Note that we also do not have any strict degree requirements.

Judgement: The ability to prioritise between different research directions, and good intuitions about the feasibility of different research directions.

‍Team fit: Openness to feedback, commitment to intellectual honesty and rigour, comfort in expressing uncertainty, and a serious interest in using your career to contribute to AI governance.

Salary, Duration, and Location

Summer Fellows will join for three months, between 9 June and 31 August, in our office in London, UK. Fellows will receive a stipend of £11,000, plus support for travelling to London. While in London, we provide our Fellows with lunch on weekdays and a desk in our new London office. This is intended to be a full-time and in-person role. We are able to sponsor visas. For successful applicants who require a visa, note that you will need to remain in your country of visa application for some time while the visa application is underway.

We realise that for senior professionals or academics, some of the above may present obstacles to your participation in the fellowship. For candidates with exceptional profiles, we are sometimes able to make accommodations. If you would like to discuss this option, please email valerie.belu@governance.ai with a copy of your CV and a brief explanation of your requirements.

How to Apply and What to Expect

Applications for the Summer Fellowship are now open. The deadline for applications is 23:59 GMT Sunday 5 January 2025.

The application process consists of a written submission in the first round, a remote work test in the second round, and an interview in the final round. We expect to reach out to Summer Fellowship candidates for paid work tests in January, offer interviews in February, and communicate final decisions to candidates in March. Please feel free to reach out to recruitment@governance.ai if you would need a decision communicated earlier than the standard timeline (this may or may not be possible), or have questions about the application process.

We accept applications from anywhere in the world. We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusion, and we encourage individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences to apply. We especially encourage applications from women, gender minorities, and people of colour who are excited about contributing to our mission. We are an equal opportunity employer. If you are concerned that you’re not the right fit but have a strong interest in the Fellowship, we encourage you to apply anyway.